


Pivot The Way I Need

by i_am_op



Category: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Love Triangles, M/M, Possessive Behavior, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-07-01 23:34:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15784419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_am_op/pseuds/i_am_op
Summary: Erik clings to things he can't have. Namely, Raoul, who's utterly in love with Christine.Christine who also only pays attention to Erik.





	Pivot The Way I Need

Erik enjoyed these lazy afternoons with Raoul. He bathed in the way Raoul was curled up next to him on the floor, lazily pressing buttons on the controller as the character of Yoshi pivoted towards the left.

The soft glow of the morning sun streamed through the curtains as Erik did his homework besides Raoul. The only sounds were coming from Raoul's game and Erik's scratch of pencil against paper.

These were the quiet moments he had come to enjoy. Raoul's warm skin against his, no matter how many times they touched, always made the tips of his ears flush. 

'Red-Ear Dumbo', Raoul had jokingly called him, with how frequently Erik's ears had flushed, completely unaware of the slightest inkling of a cause. 

Erik did not want to tell him the reason either. He simply mocked teasing anger at the nickname and enjoyed the way Raoul felt against him, staying silent with pursed lips and furtive wandering hands as he clings onto Raoul just a bit tighter. 

Coward, he thinks, as he retracts his hand, which was dangerously close to caressing Raoul's pretty, cherry red lips which he had been biting on in concentration. 

His heart thumps loudly in his heart and it's so loud, so fast, but Raoul doesn't notice, just keeps his eyes glued to the screen and fingers on the controller. 

Erik wants more than sneaky gazes and slight touches. He wants the look of attraction that Raoul gives the girls in their class directed towards him. He wants to hold Raoul, claim him as his, and keep him in his grasp forever. Erik wants, he aches, but he can't have anything. He's scared of rejection, he doesn't want to lose the most important thing in his life. 

So he bites his tongue, and pretends to hate Raoul's stupid jokes, pretends to not want to hold his hands and kiss his lips, and he pretends and he pretends. The feeling of want is crushed under the weight of his fears and insecurities. 

"You want something to drink?" Raoul asks, his eyes away from the screen and honing in on Erik now. It makes him slightly squirm under the gaze and never has he  _wanted_  more than now. 

"Water," He simply says.

Raoul's face turns playful as he sets the controller down and starts to make the motions of getting up. "You really are a grandpa. We have some soda pop."

"Water," He repeats. 

Raoul laughs, saying between giggles, "Fine, fine" and Erik pretends that his heart hasn't skipped a beat from the radiating face that left his mouth dry. 

Pushing himself up, Raoul heads towards the kitchen and Erik could hear the clinks of the cups hitting each other as Raoul gets him his cup.The cup that has now been deemed as Erik's with how often he was over. It was white and had "BOSTON" written on it, in all caps and in gaudy, blocky text. 

Erik doesn't know where this cup is from, because Raoul swore to God above that he's never even set foot outside of Paris, much less Boston. It's an ugly shaped cup and it has a slight chip it in from when Raoul accidentally dropped it. 

"I don't know why you still use this cup," Raoul voice calls from the kitchen. Footsteps echoed the hallways and then Raoul appeared from the kitchen, a can of soda pop in one hand and the same ugly BOSTON cup in the other.

Taking the cup from Raoul's hand, when the other crouched down to his level, he replies, "I like it."

And he leaves it at that.

He does not mention it being the very first cup Raoul had offered him. He does not mention how he had imagined Raoul's lips against this cup many times. Instead, he gives Raoul the same half hearted scowl and went back to Trignometry. 

Before he could even pick up a pencil and start writing any more equations, Raoul's hand shot out, momentarily stopping his heart with the closeness, and slams the textbook shut with a loud thump.

"Nope," He says cheerfully. "I got you water, which means you need to listen to me." 

Erik groans. "I'll vomit the water out if I had to."

"You're too much!" Raoul whines, pinching Erik's cheek, which earned him a glare and a slap on the wrist with a disgruntled scoff. And maybe flushed ears as well. "Stop taking advantage of your best friend."

"If anything, it should be the other way around."

"I am a gift," Raoul jokes, lightly punching Erik on the shoulders, to which he received a playful kick back in his ribs.

Whatever, spit it out already." Erik took a sip with a disgruntled frown, which Raoul completely ignored as his wide and expressive gestures almost took Erik's eye out. 

"I found the woman of my dreams." 

Saying nothing, but humming in acknowledgment, he takes another sip. He's not sure what to say. Raoul has gotten many crushes in the span of the ten years they knew each other, but they never stuck. It did nothing to relieve the boiling jealousy in his gut as he set the cup down at this side. 

"Who's she?" He sticks to short questions. He does not want to know more about this mystery woman, nor does he particularly want her to say, but Raoul's is visibly glowing and Erik does not want to be the one to disappoint Raoul.

"Christine Daae," Raoul gesticulates boldly and almost spills soda pop on Erik. "She's got a beautiful voice and she's perfect. Well, your voice is better, of course, just that, hers is nice too," Raoul hastily attaches the last part as soon as he sees the apprehensive look on Erik's face.

"Hm," Erik says. And he goes back to Trigonometry. 

*

"No."

"Please," Raoul whines as he clings tightly on Erik's sleeves, practically ripping it apart with how much he pulled. 

But Erik remains stone-faced and impassive as always. "I refuse."

"There's got to be so much best friend laws you're breaking." Another sharp tug of his sleeves.

"I'm not going to join the god damn club with you just because of a crush you have," Erik insists. He does not want to deal with a lovesick Raoul, nor does he want to purposefully torture himself.

Raoul is nothing short of persistence, and so he adamantly tugs on Erik, a petulantly stubborn expression etched on his face. It'd be adorable, if it were not used against him at the moment. Erik tries to free himself, but Raoul is tightly clinging onto him, not letting go.

A small part of him almost wants this Christine girl to see them like this, but the bigger part of him does not want to see Christine at all and go back to sulking by him lonesome until Raoul gives up on this Christine girl. But Raoul is a ball of energy and Erik can do nothing,  but resists for approximately seven hours until he gives in. 

The Theater Club. It's in the auditorium, there's around fifteen kids in it, they're planning on a musical this season, and that's about the extent of Erik's knowledge of them. 

"You like music," Raoul says, in an attempt to cheer Erik up, but letting Erik look as if he hates everyone and everything is the least Raoul can do, having dragged him here. 

"I hate people," Erik replies. 

"You love me," Raoul remarks, with the stupid assured smirk on his face. 

He really does. 

"Shut up."

As soon as he enters the club, he's met with people greeting him and Raoul with excited whispers in the background. Erik makes his best unapproachable face, but it is voided as soon as Raoul bumps hips into him and chatters excitedly with everyone there. Erik feels like the odd one out, standing awkwardly and silent as Raoul besides him is talking with groups of people. At this point, Erik is now only approached by people who hurriedly greet him and walk away, as he's rejected about five people's advances to talk. 

He crosses his arms, leans against the chairs and plainly stares at Raoul talking to people that weren't him. 

It stays like that for a few good minutes before he feels a tap on his shoulder and he turns around.

"You like acting?" The girl with the curly blonde hair asks. She's short and Erik has to strain his neck to look at her. 

"No."

"Dancing?"

"No."

"Music?"

"No."

Raoul then proceeds to think it was the right time to inch his way over, sling an arm around Erik and say, "Erik's good at the piano."

He's slightly thankful Raoul does not mention his singing, but that still didn't win over his complete utter hate for Raoul right now-- maybe not hate. He could never hate Raoul, but he sure as hell isn't giving him any stickers for good work at the moment. He pretends though, to be annoyed with Raoul and wiggle out of his grasp, slightly mourning the loss of contact that he himself had initiated. 

Curly blonde hair looks up at them in slight considering before her face breaks out into a grin. "Alright. We've already got Henry on piano, but you could be our second pianist, in case something happens. I'll get you some of the music sheets."

She turns around, blonde curly hair whipping Erik in the chest as she saunters forward. Abruptly, she stops in her tracks and turns her head around," By the way, the musical is Don Juan." And she goes back to skipping forward.

"Bubbly girl," Raoul chuckles, his arm slung over Erik once again. This time, Erik keeps it there without any acts of resisting. 

Erik stares at the retreating figure. "Kind of like you."

"Cause we're both blonde?" Teasingly, Raoul lightly smacks Erik on the back. 

They're both similar, but they're both distinct. Curly hair girl's a cheerful type of bubbly, but Raoul is smiles and calm,something that comforts Erik. Someone that holds out a gentle hand and someone Erik wants to hold.

"Yeah, because you're blonde," Erik states. 

Which earns him another light punch in the chest. 

*

Raoul, the usual bold one, is cowardly this time around and does not make a move to talk to the Christine girl right away. It'll take ages for him to even make eye contact with her, so Erik readies himself for having to stay at this damned club for longer than was necessary. But on another note, Raoul has been assigned a role as an actor. Surprisingly, he's good at it, but Erik inwardly thinks that of course Raoul is good at acting. He's good at everything, including make Erik's heart beat too fast for it to be considered healthy. 

the usual bold one, is cowardly this time around and does not make a move to talk to the Christine girl right away. 

Henry, their first pianist, is dutifully at work and Erik has nothing to do, but watch. Raoul isn't assigned a big role, he's Solider #3 and got a total of about four lines. Two of which, where loud shouts of exclamation. But it's bigger than a minor role as a tree for someone who just got there, so Erik considers that an achievement. 

He spends the whole day, sitting in the chairs of the auditorium, watching as Raoul stood in the background, ignoring Paganini, the Don Juan, making subtle winks towards his girlfriend, Carlotta. Or whom he thinks is his girlfriend anyways, with the way those two always stare at one another. 

Looking at Raoul is never boring, but the hours spent just looking at him could've been spent with Raoul curled next to him in peaceful silence. Erik is still bitter about this Christine that he's yet to have met. So that's lal he does these afternoons, sit by himself and curse Christine inwardly, with occasional stares at Raoul in between. 

It's schedule.

And then long chestnut hair girl sits next to him and breaks this schedule. Suddenly, he's not alone. 

"Aren't you supposed to be up there?" She asks, tapping her perfectly manicured nails on the seat above, making abrasive clinking noises that Erik disliked. 

He cleared his throat. "No. Understudy pianist."

She laughs and Erik thinks it sounds better than the clinking noises that comes from her nails. She has a nice voice and Erik assumes she's one of the main singers in the musical. "Henry's got a strong heart, it'd take too much to make him sick, don't think you'd be able to perform, if ever."

"Well, I suppose that's better for me."

"Stage fright?" Long hair asks, her nails had stopped tapping against the seat she rests her face on her palms. 

"No."

She nods, her eyes burning holes on him and he fidgets under her scrutinizing look.  

"Erik, right?"

"Uh, yes."

"I saw you once, y'know. At that contest. I was the one playing the violin. Congrats on the win."

Erik almost could feel the tips of his ears flush. "Oh." He awkwardly coughs and looks at the windows, studying every detail as if it were the most interesting thing.

"Well, nice talking to you." The girl says. She sticks a hand out and smiles. "I'm Christine Daae."

**Author's Note:**

> possibly my last poto fanfic


End file.
